Rap music just vanished from the Billboard Top 40 for the first time in 35 years
Billboard/Yahoo! | Oct 30, 2025 | Aidin VaziriFor the first time in more than three decades, not a single rap song ranks among the 40 most popular tracks in America. …
Not since February 1990 has the Billboard Hot 100 gone without a rap entry in its upper ranks.
Archive of posts filed under the Music category.
Cool Name, and He Definitely Made His Mark on Our Culture
Vic Flick, Guitarist on the James Bond Theme Song, Dies at 87
Hollywood Reporter | 11/19/24 | Mike BarnesVic Flick, the famed British session guitarist who picked out the twangy riff for the James Bond theme song introduced to moviegoers on Dr. No, has died. He was 87.
His death on Thursday after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease was announced by his family on Facebook.
Flick also played on No. 1 hits for Peter and Gordon (“A World Without Love”) and Petula Clark (“Downtown”); performed on Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual” and “Ringo’s Theme” (This Boy) for A Hard Day’s Night (1964); and collaborated with the likes of Jimmy Page, George Martin, Herman’s Hermits, Cliff Richard, Eric Clapton, Dusty Springfield and Engelbert Humperdinck.
Discussion Corner: Hey, Hey, My, My: Will Rock & Roll Ever Die?
Or Is It Dead Already?
Saw a discussion on a news forum, sparked by this:
Why Steven Van Zandt Thinks Classic Rock ‘Is Going to Die’
UltimateClassicRock | May 23rd, 2024 | Corey Irwin
Basically, it was a bunch of old fogies like us spouting off. Sample:
“It will become like Classical Music. People will still listen to it, but nobody will be interested in new stuff.
All the good rock music has already been made.”
I don’t think the same way, but I feel the same way.
Earworms
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Someone over on FreeRepublic started a thread about one-hit 80s wonders, and people contributed their ideas. It’s pleasure/pain to think of them. Here are some:
I Melt with You / Modern English
A-Ha’s “Take on Me”
Der Kommissar.
99 Luftballoons
“I Want Candy” by Bow Wow Wow.
“The Safety Dance” (Men Without Hats)
The Walls Came Down – The Call
Wall of Voodoo – Mexican Radio
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Two Tribes
Murry Head, One Night In Bangkok
’Til Tuesday – Voices Carry
Men at Work / Do You Come From A Land Down Under
Fun Fact About “I Am the Walrus”
Music Video Trivia: Claims for First
Before there were motion pictures, there were lantern slide shows at theaters.
The following images were intentionally made to accompany a popular song called “Hello Central, Give Me Heaven.”
They would be shown in the theater while the song was played and sung.
If that doesn’t qualify as the first music “video,” I don’t know what should.
At any rate, it beat Jim Croce’s “Operator” by a few years.
Misheard: “All in the Family” Edition
We all know some very funny classic examples of misheard lyrics.
This isn’t a thread for ALL of them — just one particular example.
Walrus recently alluded to the All in the Family intro song with: “we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.”
By coincidence, I then read a FreeRepublic discussion thread on that opening song, where people shared their misinterpretations of the (muddy) audio of Carrol O’Connor, Jean Stapleton, and their tinny piano belting out: “Gee, our old LaSalle ran great.” I even had an argument with my brother over what the words were.
Those were the days — the days when there was no internet on which to look stuff up. There were libraries, and encyclopedias, but nothing that would settle a modern or real-time dispute like this.
Some misinterpretations, from that thread:
“G.I. roll a salary great!”
“We were all a cell rat’s mate”
I always thought they were talking about the football team.
I went decades trying to figure out that line.
Mine? “Gee, are all the salads great?”
1934 version LaSalle (from a commenter on that thread):
What? I Have a Great Collection, But I’ve Seen the Needle and the Damage Done
Vinyl Records Outsell CDs for the First Time Since 1987
NPR | March 10, 2023 | Kaitlyn RaddeVinyl albums outsold CDs last year for the first time since 1987, according to the Recording Industry Association of America’s year-end report released Thursday.
It marked the 16th consecutive year of growth in vinyl, with 41 million albums sold — compared to 33 million CDs.
Streaming is still the biggest driver of the music industry’s growth, making up 84% of recorded-music revenue, but physical music formats saw a remarkable resurgence in the past couple of years.
The pandemic led to a spike in demand for vinyl records, driven largely by younger buyers. Vinyl has become a major part of artists’ marketing campaigns.
Vinyl revenue grew 17% and topped $1.2 billion last year, making up nearly three-quarters of the revenue brought in by physical music. At the same time, CD revenue fell 18% to $483 million, the RIAA said.
Tuesday Night Open Thread
I’m not a fan of Bing Crosby. I’m not a fan of the Andrews Sisters. But they were sure popular in the 1940, both separately and together.
This song spent six weeks atop the Billboard Juke Box chart beginning in October 1944.
Do you have something you’d like to share? A link? A joke? Some words of wisdom? A topic to discuss? It’s our nightly Open Thread, and you have the floor.
Tuesday Night Open Thread
Normally, on Tuesday nights, the Open Thread plays a number one hit from the 1940s. Couple of reasons for that. One, I just want to have more than “Hey, it’s open thread. Go at it.” And two, we need to expose more people to good music from days past.
Tonight, though, something different, and much more current. Still, it’s 50 years old. To the day. And because it’s 50 years to the day, I’m switching formats for one Tuesday night only.
The biggest rock star of the 1970s was Elton John. Michael Jackson was big, but Elton’s 1970s star did shine brighter than Michael’s, though the talented Mr. Jackson would be considered a bigger star overall, based on his 1970s and later catalog. The 1970s belonged to Elton John.
For many, his early years are the best. I think his last really great album was Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. Although Blue Moves and Rock of the Westies were pretty good, they showed the beginning of his downward spiral. He had some good stuff in the years since, of course, but the classic Elton John is the Elton John from the early to mid 1970s, peaking (in my opinion) with Captain Fantastic.
On November 17, 1970, fifty years ago, Elton John performed a live concert for a New York radio station. Some say it’s his best concert ever. I don’t know about that — Dodger Stadium or Thanksgiving at Madison Square Garden with John Lennon might be better — but it was so popular (people buying bootleg copied from bootleggers who recorded the broadcast) that it forced the record company to release an official version. That release became Elton’s fourth simultaneous Top 100 album, making him the first artist to do that since the Beatles. And this was in 1971, when his career was just taking off.
So, I’m switching gears and presenting that concert (edited for gaps, etc.).
Do you have something you’d like to share? A link? A joke? Some words of wisdom? A topic to discuss? It’s our nightly Open Thread, and you have the floor.
Tuesday Night Open Thread
In April of 1944, Bing Crosby took this song to the top of the Billboard Juke Box chart for five weeks.
Do you have something you’d like to share? A link? A joke? Some words of wisdom? A topic to discuss? It’s our nightly Open Thread, and you have the floor.
Saturday Night Hootenanny
I am not the Walrus. Koo-koo-ka-choo. But I am gonna host tonight’s show, because of reasons, I suppose.
Anyway, since it’s a Saturday night, and since I’m old, I’m going old school country, Grand Ole Opry style.
We ain’t got a real long show tonight, but it’s jam packed with good music. Now let’s get this young fella from Alabama up to the microphone to kick off the show.
Now here’s a fine song from The Cherokee Cowboy, Ray Price. Take it away, Ray.
Here’s a number that causes more aches than just to the heart. The Ol’ Pea Picker himself, Tennessee Ernie Ford.
All the way from McClellan, Florida to our stage, let’s bring up Hank Locklin singing one of his biggest hits.
Seems ole Hank ain’t the only one falling. Pretty Miss Patsy Cline is Falling to Pieces. Sing it, little lady.
This next fellow grew up in Oklahoma and got his start in music when Sheb Wooley taught him how to play the guitar. After playing with bands while in the Army, he went to Nashville and became a hit songwriter. One of his biggest hits was one he sang himself. Here’s Roger Miller, the King of the Road.
Next up on the stage is one of our all-time favorites, Gentleman Jim Reeves, with one of his biggest hit records.
Our next guest was a pretty good race car driver when he could squeeze time on the track in between having hit records. Here’s Marty Robbins, singing of of his biggest hits.
We’ve had some big stars on tonight. And you don’t get to be any bigger a star than George Jones. Here he is now.
We didn’t have a long show tonight, but it’s been a good one. Now, we’re gonna end with our hope that come tomorrow, you, too, might be able to do what our final guest implores you to do: Kiss An Angel Good Morning. Here’s Charlie Pride.
Thanks for joining us tonight. That’s our Saturday Night Hootenanny. Unless, of course, you got an encore or two you want to offer.
Good night, everybody.
Tuesday Night Open Thread
As we go though the number one hits of the 1940s, we missed this one, which spent five weeks at the top of the charts. Well, at one of the charts. Remember, Billboard actually had three different charts, the Best Sellers, Juke Box, and Disc Jockey charts. Later, Billboard combined them, but for a period of time in the 1940s, they were all separate, and each was as valid as the other.
Do you have something you’d like to share? A link? A joke? Some words of wisdom? A topic to discuss? It’s our nightly Open Thread, and you have the floor.
Friday Night Open Thread
I love Weird Al.
Do you have something you’d like to share? A link? A joke? Some words of wisdom? A topic to discuss? It’s our nightly Open Thread, and you have the floor.
Thursday Night Open Thread
I have been a Beatles fan from way back. Even when I didn’t fully appreciate the songs.
Do you have something you’d like to share? A link? A joke? Some words of wisdom? A topic to discuss? It’s our nightly Open Thread, and you have the floor.